Valley of the Heart by Moore S. Dionne

Author:Moore, S. Dionne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-10-09T04:00:00+00:00

fourteen

Despite Frank’s protests and Levi’s pout, Maira knew she had to do this. Tanner asked her if she knew how to rope and peg. She didn’t. And with every question he put to her, to learn what skills she possessed, she wondered if he grew more disheartened at taking her with him.

He ran a hand over his head and down his neck. “Do you even own a hat?”

“I do!” She felt such victory over being able to say yes to something, though she supposed it must seem lame to him.

“Well, at least you can sit a horse.” His eyes ran the length of her. “Though that’s quite a getup.”

“My riding clothes.” She stroked her hand down the thick leather of her split skirt, glad for the extra protection the material offered in the saddle. Briars and bugs would be deterred.

“You’ll get hot pretty fast.”

His prediction came true, and Maira found herself struggling to keep up and keep cool. Tanner worked with an ease that bespoke of his time as a cowpuncher somewhere other than the Rocking J. He encouraged her to watch what he did that first day. No matter what, it seemed the cattle they ran into were all born of the same stubborn mother. Tanner lassoed and tugged, coaxed and hollered, circled and pegged, and the whole time Maira felt like a fool. His sweat-soaked shirt clung to his back, his face flushed with his efforts. One bull turned on him and lowered its head, horns poised. When the animal charged Cue, Maira’s throat closed in terror. But Tanner wheeled Cue and landed his lasso around the bull’s horns, giving out rope as the animal fought and strained.

He trotted Cue over to her and handed her the rope. She followed his instructions, grateful for Frank’s gloves covering her hands. Tanner threw another rope over the bull’s horns, and they kept the animal between them. By early evening the weariness was beginning to show in Tanner’s face and the continual swipe of the handkerchief across his brow.

“Ten head.”

Just the tone of his voice let her know how disgusted he was with the day’s count. “I’m sorry.”

Tanner rode in close to Queen, a crooked smile on his face. “Actually, I should be pleased. For the places we had to work, that’s not bad.”

She wanted to touch his face, wipe away the dirt streaking from eye to jaw, but it was neither the time nor place. Her question from the previous evening slipped into mind. “Last night, you said Jon was a good man. Did you know him?”

He winced. The horses kept pace with each other, allowing her knee to almost touch his. His face was a stone carving, a coldness that scared her.

“Jon got that gold from me.”

Maira gasped. “You?”

“I met him. We talked. He needed money, and the bank wouldn’t extend credit. I told him I had some gold.”

“You knew him?” She tried to reconcile what he was saying to his sudden appearance, his rescue of Levi, and what he’d said about Walt Price.

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